I have only listened to each LP a few times but here is my opinion as a King Diamond/Mercyful Fate fan:

I think these versions on LP are probably the best, if not the best versions of these recordings I have heard. The only versions I have heard which may be better are the original LP issues from the 1980s. My local record store should have Don't Break the Oath and Abigail in stock this week, and they said they will hold one copy of each when they arrive for me. I will give my opinion on those after I give them each a few listens.

I just have a question for you as I never had the original vinyl of Abigail and ''Them''.

Here are the versions I have:

King Diamond - Abigail: 2 LP version issued by Roadronner Records (Cargo Records) RRCAR 8788-1 (This one sounds fine);King Diamond - Them: 1 LP version issued by Roadrunner Records (Cargo Records) RRCAR 8785-1 (this one sounds terrible and I suspect the issue is that they crammed the whole album + 3 bonus tracks in 1 side and half of the other...).

They appear to be from the same set of reissues (re-released back in 2007 if I`m not mistaken). Abigail sounds fine (with bonus tracks as well). For whatever reason, they released Them with bonus tracks and used only one LP (and not even half of the B side :p). Obviously the sounds suffers. Having never heard the original LP, I want to get my hands on this new reissue only if anyone can confirm that it sounds better than this terrible version?

You mentioned than this reissue sounds comparable to the original one... will I be wasting my money getting this new version?

I just have a question for you as I never had the original vinyl of Abigail and ''Them''.

Here are the versions I have:

King Diamond - Abigail: 2 LP version issued by Roadronner Records (Cargo Records) RRCAR 8788-1 (This one sounds fine);King Diamond - Them: 1 LP version issued by Roadrunner Records (Cargo Records) RRCAR 8785-1 (this one sounds terrible and I suspect the issue is that they crammed the whole album + 3 bonus tracks in 1 side and half of the other...).

They appear to be from the same set of reissues (re-released back in 2007 if I`m not mistaken). Abigail sounds fine (with bonus tracks as well). For whatever reason, they released Them with bonus tracks and used only one LP (and not even half of the B side :p). Obviously the sounds suffers. Having never heard the original LP, I want to get my hands on this new reissue only if anyone can confirm that it sounds better than this terrible version?

You mentioned than this reissue sounds comparable to the original one... will I be wasting my money getting this new version?

Just got the Deadly Lullabyes reissue today from Metal Blade's eBay store. Top notch pressing (clear vinyl), dead quiet vinyl and the sound quality is very good. I'm impressed. I buy only vinyl, so I've come across many mediocre and crappy modern pressings, and this is surely NOT one of those. I can faintly hear the thud of the Matt Thompson's foot hitting his hi-hat pedal and the instrument separation is fantastic, with room for every instrument. Apparently it was pressed from the original analog/vinyl masters and it shows. I've not heard the original pressing, so I can't compare it but this one sounds like they're performing in front of me.

The packaging is also really nice. The inner sleeves/LPs were put in between the pockets of the outer jacket so there wouldn't be split seams (people that buy new sealed LPs will certainly know what I'm referring to). And it was sealed this way! Impressive and that shows the label cares about its product. I'm about the order the other reissues!

Your Vinyl arrived okay ?? I just got my full orders from metal blade & they just tossed 9 Lp's in a square box & all the Vinyl was ruined Not the 1st time they have done this either ...... they NEED to buy lp shipping packaging .

I got the Don't Break the Oath and Abigail reissues last week. Both of them are top notch. I'd recommend anybody to get these. They are probably cheaper than the original pressings on vinyl, and sound just as good!!

Your Vinyl arrived okay ?? I just got my full orders from metal blade & they just tossed 9 Lp's in a square box & all the Vinyl was ruined Not the 1st time they have done this either ...... they NEED to buy lp shipping packaging .

I ordered it through ebay, so maybe their quality control is better through a third party seller system like ebay.

Your Vinyl arrived okay ?? I just got my full orders from metal blade & they just tossed 9 Lp's in a square box & all the Vinyl was ruined Not the 1st time they have done this either ...... they NEED to buy lp shipping packaging .

Got mine from the same place and have no issues. One tiny little bend on one corner, but that was actually my fault when taking off the shrinkwrap.

Great albums though, really thinking about ordering the KD ones. Only reason I didn't is because I just picked up the first press copies at a record store in pristine condition. Very happy with the MF albums though, hope they release more one day soon.

They should at least do the other 3 King Diamond records. Looks like they are doing Sepultura - Schizophrenia, Obituary - The End Complete & Deicide - Legion next. So glad they are able to put out all this classic roadrunner stuff.

Thanks for the replies on the Damaged vinyl , it may be as i ordered 2 copies of all 4 of them as a friend & i ordered at the same time , Metal blade is looking into a partial refund if i want to keep them with the Damaged covers .

I just purchased the abigail reissue from metal blade in blue vinyl. It is dead quiet and sounds outstanding. I was amazed at how good it sounds. I highly recommend purchasing. I will be buying Them next.

How does the cover art look? Most of these reissues are just photocopied and have shitty looking covers, most notably the logos are always blurry. I can tell just from the pics posted here that the colors are way off on Them, looks like too much color saturation and darker than normal. Aren't these selling for around $27 US dollars? Seems like for that price you might as well just get the originals, you can usually find the first four KD LPs for around $20-$30

The album cover is not very high quality and looks about what you described with the Them cover. It has a one page piece of artwork with lyrics which does not look to bad. They did opt for a higher quality inner sleeve that is plastic and paper. The inner part being plastic which is nice. I paid $29 for my copy and purchase through King's website. I could of purchased it for about $ bucks cheaper but I wanted to support him. For me when I purchase vinyl my main concern is getting high quality vinyl not so much on the artwork so this copy was well worth what I paid to have a record that is dead quiet and sounds top quality in a custom color on 180 gram.

How does the cover art look? Most of these reissues are just photocopied and have shitty looking covers, most notably the logos are always blurry. I can tell just from the pics posted here that the colors are way off on Them, looks like too much color saturation and darker than normal. Aren't these selling for around $27 US dollars? Seems like for that price you might as well just get the originals, you can usually find the first four KD LPs for around $20-$30

The colors on "Them" look much darker compared to my original copy, but this is quite normal, and I wouldn't call it a photocopy. The logo is not blurry at all. This could be how the actual cover was meant to look like.

I bought my LPs for $22.95 each from my local record store. Used copies of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate albums always go for at least that much! My only complaint is that the information on the spines could be bigger.

The colors on "Them" look much darker compared to my original copy, but this is quite normal, and I wouldn't call it a photocopy. The logo is not blurry at all. This could be how the actual cover was meant to look like.

I bought my LPs for $22.95 each from my local record store. Used copies of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate albums always go for at least that much! My only complaint is that the information on the spines could be bigger.